


Save the Sacrifice

by mywinterbuckybear



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: After endgame, Angst, Avengers - Freeform, Endgame, Endgame AU, F/M, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Reader Insert, Sacrifice, Vormir, basically crack, because were not a russo, but this is my fic soooo, it fine, it wasnt specified in the request but i went ahead and did it anyways soooo, request, she dies but you know, unrealistic happy ending, unspecified relationship but its basically a steve request, yes im still salty what about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21781528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mywinterbuckybear/pseuds/mywinterbuckybear
Summary: What would happen if, instead of Clint and Natasha, [Y/N] and Steve were the ones that went to Vormir?
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 73





	Save the Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Request: hey sunshine! if you aren’t too busy, could you please write an avengers fic where the reader dies on one of the most important missions/after thanos’ snap and the team realizes after her death how important she was, and vow to save her? thanks a ton, and sorry if it’s too detailed!  
> [A/N]: this is basically guilty pleasure for me i got too much into it that i almost forgot about the request plot nonetheless enjoy~~

It’s been exactly a week after their battle, a week after they got everyone back, a week after they restored the world… for most people that is.

It wasn’t a perfect save after all, but they did all they could do.

And like all times before, that still wasn’t enough.

* * *

Natasha watched at Bruce continued to work on another panel, seemingly making another scientific miracle with practiced ease.

She sat down next to him, silently watching him work. “How it’s coming?”

“Better than expected. I might even have it ready by today,” Bruce started, a relieved smile decorating his green-tinged face. The sooner they could get this part over with, the sooner they could all finally close this chapter of the story.

With a last few taps here and calculated clicks there, the giant of a man finally stood up and gazed upon his fully functional machine. His part was done. This whole ordeal was is almost over; there was only one thing left to do: find the one who was going to use it.

“Where’s Steve?”

Natasha poked her tongue to her cheek, knowing exactly the answer to that question. “Where do you think?”

* * *

“Steve.”

“Buck.”

Bucky stopped right next to his friend who made no effort of averting his gaze from whatever it was focused on. So Bucky just stared forward, mimicking Steve, silently joining him as he stood rigidly with a blank face.

“So, what exactly are we looking at?” Bucky finally inquired after a moment.

Steve shifted in his feet, pulling himself out of his daze. “I’m not sure if you can guess, but there used to be a small lake right here.”

Steve raised his hand, gesturing over the vast land in front of them, to help him picture it. But no matter how much Bucky squints his eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to imagine something like that will all that chaos in the way. “And?”

If there ever was such a place, then it was already long blown over and under six feet of gravel at this point. The battle that took place here was no joke after all. The avengers compound was merely a memory now. No one had even attempted going back to see the rubble ever since, let alone clean it up. So Bucky had no idea why Steve would be h-

“[Y/N] used to go here every morning to throw a stone.”

_Oh._

Steve glanced down at the small pebble resting on his palm while Bucky had already started to silently curse himself from bringing up the subject.

“I didn’t know why she did, but she did it with no fail if she could,” Steve continued on, a sense of longing present in his tone before he chuckled bitterly to himself. “Now, I can’t even do that for her.”

Bucky closed his eyes, sensing the man beside him throw the poor pebble with all his strength, almost reaching the middle of the rubble. “Steve… you know that’s-”

“Is the machine ready yet?”

Bucky glanced at his friend; the complete glazed-over look in Steve’s eyes was enough to give him chills. But he knew there was nothing he could do about it. “Yeah, Bruce is asking for you.”

“Let’s go.” Without another word, Steve turned around and left Bucky standing alone. The soldier clenched his jaw, weighing his options before he called out. “Wait.”

“You gotta stop by Pepper first.”

Bucky turned around, only to find a dumbfounded Steve who stopped in his tracks at the mention of the name. Bucky knew that would get him.

“She wants to talk to you.”

-

“Steve,” the redhead greeted the man anxiously, her heels tapping against the floor as she made her way to the door.

“Pepper, Buck said y-”

That’s when Steve had the chance to glance all around, his words stopping in his throat as confusion took over his features.

“Why are they all here-?”

“They want to have a word with you. Just listen to them. It’s for your own good,” Pepper explained quickly, no question pushed to this position.

He glanced back at Bucky who said nothing and only silently stared back. Knowing he was already outnumbered, Steve surrendered.

He sat down on the empty chair unquestionably readied for him, feeling everyone’s eyes follow his every movement. At this point, the only thing missing was a judge.

“Why does this scene feel so familiar?” He kid, not knowing what else to say in this situation.

“We know why you want to go,” Bruce started it off, hoping it would end as calmly as he started.

“What else? We have to return the stones.”

“Alone?” Natasha asked, unable to keep her mouth shut.

“Less chance of making mistakes we can’t afford.”

“There was a reason why we split up, but in pairs,” Bruce reasoned out, hoping Steve would see his point. “Going alone is too much of a risk.”

“A risk I’m willing to take.”

Everyone was silent on that incredibly on brand answer. All except for Bucky who scoffed loudly and explicitly in the background.

“It’s fine,” Steve defended. “It’s not like it’s gonna be my first time going back-”

“Steve, no.”

“Buck.”

“I wasn’t gonna say something but you can’t do this,” Bucky firmly pressed, feeling as though he was talking to a kid.

Steve felt like laughing. “Do what? Return the stones like we originally planned?”

“We all know that’s not what you’re gonna do.”

The sarcastic smile on Steve’s face fell, finally realizing the reason behind the angry and disappointed look on Bucky’s face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Just thinking about it is already a risk of its own, Rogers,” Natasha sighed, feeling as though they were reasoning with a wall. “If we let you go with that in your head, who knows what’s gonna happen.”

Natasha tried her best to be sympathetic. She knew better than anyone how much Steve wanted this, being the witness of his condition for the past 5 years. But this wasn’t something that should be talked about lightly.

“The only thing in my head is doing my job.”

One could almost feel the increasing tension accumulated in the room. Everyone’s frustration just kept rising as they realized Steve’s moral compass continued to keep its reputation of being stubbornly on point.

“You can’t do this, Steve. It’s not gonna happen the way you want.” Natasha raised her voice, all intention of going soft has gone out the window.

“I’m not gonna do anything I shouldn’t.”

“And that’s what we’re afraid of.”

“ _Am I supposed to be catching something here?_ ” Thor muttered with his arms crossed on his front, sinking deeper into his chair, truly unsure why he was forced to be in this council without prior prepping. No wonder Wilson turned down attending the intervention.

Clint just shook his head, leaning towards the god with a hushed voice, also only watching over the show. “

 _Just watch. It’s gonna blow over sooner or later_.”

Steve ran a hand down his face, doing everything he can to keep his cool. Even he was getting frustrated himself. “Look, I already know what I’m going to do.”

“We already agreed on this,” Steve emphasized, unsure why this was suddenly an issue. “Why do you have a problem with it now?”

“Because we know what you’re planning to do.”

“Nat, I’m going to do what _I_ have to.” Steve frowned, slowly feeling betrayed. Out of everyone, he thought at least she’d understand.

“And that’s just it, Steve, we know that, but you can’t,” Nat pressed.

“What if what you’re planning to do messes up everything we worked for?”

Steve’s shoulders stiffened at her words. That’s when they knew they finally hit something. “We don’t know if what you want is possible or not.”

“And we just can’t let you take that risk-”

“We’re going off based completely on an _if_ right now?” Steve widened his eyes, using everything he can hang onto.

“We always have,” Bruce muttered, apologetic that he even had to explain this to their obviously desperate friend. “That’s because those ‘if’s had always determined whether we win or we lose.”

“We can’t risk losing this time, Steve. Not again,” Bruce whispered, having no strength to say everyone’s shared thought too loudly. He leaned forward, frowning, thinking of how to put it as gentle as he can. “There’s just nothing we can do about it…”

That seemed to quiet down, not only Steve, but everyone in the room. His stare just stuck to the ground as his brows furrowed, jaw clenched. No one else knew what to say or how to make it all better. All, but one. “…I say fuck it.”

They all turned their gazes towards the familiar voice and, much to their surprise, was greeted by a familiar face. “Tony?”

“What are you doing out of bed?!” Pepper immediately rushed to his side, supporting him up as he struggled to stand even with his crutch. “You shouldn’t be standing h-!”

“No. I’m tired of hearing this shit,” Tony grunted through his teeth, not in pain but in sheer annoyance.

“Look. Excuse my French, but fuck all these rules and all these goddamned time-traveling guidelines,” he snapped.

He glanced up, gazing at each and every person in that room with fire in his eyes. “By theory, we never should’ve won… and _I_ shouldn’t even be alive, right?”

Before anyone could ask where Tony was going with this, the man had already taken off.

“So, if we can reverse the snap, go through time to pull- what again?- _a reverse time heist_ to save the world!…” Tony listed, putting emphasis on each word, borderline mad. “Then why the hell can’t we use everything we still have to save [Y/N]?!”

“Because that’s what this is about, right?”

“We all know this is about her,” Stark went on, letting Pepper assist him to get closer to the bunch before bitterly chuckling. “And yet no one could even say her name.”

Silence. The tension in the room had doubled. They were all quiet under Tony’s stare, only now realizing their one fatal error. Clint opened his mouth, wanting to say something but it all just fell flat. Steve had unconsciously clenched his fist, taking his friend’s words to heart. He was right.

“We’re the avengers…” Tony sighed as he shook his head, remembering all the responsibilities that came with the name, and everything they’ve done for it. They’ve faced too many and too much. But this was different.

“When have we let something like this stop us?”

He had them there. Tony just knew his team too well. Their heads perked as the thought slowly sank in. The more they think about it, the more plausible it was. After everything they’ve went through, what was one more mission?

“Because nothing like this happened before,” Bruce reasoned, hating the fact that he had to be the nagging voice of reason for something he also wanted.

“So what?” Tony rebutted. “The avengers don’t leave anyone behind, especially not one of ours.”

“And surely, [Y/N] would do the same for us.”

“She would,” Steve agreed instantly, knowing her better than anyone, lifting his head to meet their gazes. Ones that were filled with sadness and pity before now had hope.

“So…?” Tony piped, gesturing to the bunch, not a bit satisfied with the lukewarm reaction. “What do you say?! You just gonna sit there and argue?!”

They all shared a glance and slowly, small smiles decorated their lips. Wordlessly, it appeared as if they had already reached a verdict.

“Wait, are we seriously considering this?” Bruce stood up, completely flabbergasted that the intervention turned into something like this. “This is insane.”

“It is. It doesn’t even sound like a good plan,” Natasha muttered, clicking her tongue before she chuckled, shaking her head. “But we already went against nature herself so…”

Bruce blinked profusely to himself as his companions one by one started to lose their way.

“To hel with it, why not!” Thor exclaimed, standing up from his chair, riled up by the conversation.

“It’s what heroes do.” Tony nodded to Steve who smiled back, wholly appreciating the change of heart as Thor nearly cheered. “Couldn’t have said it better myself!”

They all shared a quick laugh, only now realizing that they had all stood up at some point, idiotically exchanging hope with each other. All, except for Bucky who had to sit down, stunned, unsure of what just happened and how easy it was to sway the avengers.

“So, what are we doing?”

“Tony, you’re not going. You’ve barely healed.” Pepper immediately swooped in, holding Tony’s good arm with a firm grip.

“Oh, I’m not saying it’d be me,” Stark immediately recoiled, fully acknowledging the reprimanding tone his wife was using now that his high was over.

“I was thinking maybe I can just stay here at home and look after everyone from here,” he offered, knowing well of his options.

“Just wanted to have a try at the pep talk. Just once.”

He glanced at his friends, hoping for some back-up. “It worked out pretty well, right?”

“Good enough,” Clint commented, teasing at the slightest. Steve gave him an amused approving nod and a small smile while Thor sent a double thumbs-up.

“Did the job,” Natasha complimented at the very most before her gaze fell to the anxious scientist who was still sitting nervously on his chair as he went over everything that could go wrong in his head. She merely raised a brow at him, and that was enough.

“Fine. We’ve come this far,” Bruce muttered, almost defiant as he stood. “Might as well push our luck now.”

“This would be great, guys,” Thor excitedly hyped. Just the thought of being able to bring back their friend brought a happy grin on his face. “One last mission for the avengers!”

Steve couldn’t stop the smile forming on his lips, if only [Y/N] could see them now.

—

"It’s where Thanos killed my sister…”

The room immediately fell to a complete silence as the tension thickened astronomically. “Not it,” Scott muttered under his breath, unable to look Nebula in the eye.

The sole sound of a snort pierced through the quiet. “Sounds riveting.”

Their eyes immediately darted to [Y/N] who confidently had a smirk on her lips. “I’ll go.”

“What? Everything else sounds like it needs exact clockwork planning,” [Y/N] immediately reasoned out when she felt every pair of eyes in the room suddenly judge her.

“This just sounds a little easier to be honest.”

To that, Steve sent a very reprimanding glance her way to which she merely brushed away. He raised his brow at her, wordlessly telling her to quit it. But to no one’s surprise, he was ignored.

Steve poked his tongue to his cheek, thinking it through before clearing his throat and raising his hand.

“I’ll go with her.”

To that, with no one disagreeing, the ones going for the soul stone were already set, with no idea of what kind of trouble they were signing themselves up for.

Natasha nudged Clint. “Looks like we’ll be taking the scepter then.”

“Ugh, I hate that stupid thing,” Clint grumbled under his breath, incredibly inconvenienced with the one assigned to them. The subject was still very touchy to him. He and Nat should’ve just volunteered for the soul stone first.

* * *

At the end of the meeting, it was decided; Thor would get the reality stone, Stark and Lang would take the tesseract, Romanoff and Barton would go after the scepter, Banner would have the time stone, Nebula and Rhodes would get the power stone while [Y/L/N] and Rogers would have the honor of going to Vormir.

“Anything else you’d want us to know,” [Y/N] asked one last time, just to be sure before they split up.

Nebula could only shake her head, a somber look clouding her appearance. “It was my sister who knew more.”

“All I can say is that it’s in Vormir and is much more dangerous than what it seems to be.”

“At this point, everything is.” [Y/N] held in a sigh as she nodded. She only felt the pang of anxiety the moment they stepped out of earth. After all, knowing nothing was as dangerous as coming weaponless.

That’s when Rhodes stepped forward, opening his arms, wordlessly telling her to 'come here’. [Y/N] followed, giving James a well-needed hug before they go.

“Get that stone and come back. No messing around,” he muttered the warning lowly to her ear, only resulting in laughs. “It’s like you don’t even know me,” [Y/N] bantered.

They pulled away, smiling at each other as if they were just going at their normal missions. But the man knew just how terrified [Y/N] really was inside. He knew her too much and that’s why, not a moment later, Rhodes pointedly glanced at Steve. “You better make sure she doesn’t touch it.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

[Y/N] rolled her eyes before pulling the captain up inside the spaceship by the sleeve before they can continue to slander her any further.

They buckled themselves in, Steve staying out of [Y/N]’s way as she readied their course, following Rocket’s commands word per word. All he could do now was sink to the chair and relax his breathing.

“Ready?”

Steve’s gaze snapped to her, only now realizing that he was blankly staring. “Yup- yeah.”

[Y/N] nodded, her gaze darting back to her task. At the corner her eye, she could see his knee bouncing anxiously as he continued to stare blankly at the view in front of him, trapped in his chaotic thoughts.

“Hey,” [Y/N] called for him again just as the ship started to gain speed. “Hmm?” Steve hummed, holding onto the chair with a careful grip.

“You think it’s gonna make us astroproject or something like that?”

“You’re not gonna be using it, [Y/N].”

She snorted. “Sounds like you just wanna beat me to it.”

“…maybe.”

They shared a glance before they both bursted in soft laughter. Steve didn’t even bother suppressing his laugh, the wondrous lights of space reflecting beautifully in his eyes as they crinkled. It’s been a long time since they could do that.

“We’ve come a long way from the battle of New York, huh?”

“Yeah,” Steve sighed, still caught up with it all. To be honest, it was all too overwhelming. The past twenty four hours were something he could only dream about. Maybe if they weren’t in this situation, they could’ve fully appreciated the beauty of space.

_“Preparing to enter light speed in 3…”_

[Y/N] offered her hand, reaching out for his as she gripped the seatbelt for purchase.

_“…2…”_

Steve met hers halfway and closed the space. His fingers entwined hers as they both braced themselves for the jump, hand in hand.

_“…1.”_

* * *

“[Y/N]!” Steve shouted again, causing her to roll her eyes for who knows how many times that day.

She let herself be pulled by the familiar hand, fighting against all desire of looking annoyed as she faced Steve who only had pure worry on his face. “I told you to stay close.”

[Y/N] raised her hand, feigning innocence, just nodding away, knowing it was better to accept it at this point. While Steve could only let out a frustrated sigh, giving her hand a firm squeeze, unsure of how he had kept her alive these past five years with how reckless she’s became. “Just keep your eyes up.”

Steve then took the lead, checking every direction for any sign of danger before letting [Y/N] take a single step forward. She could almost see the stress Steve had placed on himself.

[Y/N] cleared her throat as she trailed closely behind the man. “So, what do you think it does?”

“It’s the soul stone…” Steve muttered, disinterested and focused at everything else. “I’m guessing it might have something to do with that.”

“Do you think we’ll get to connect with ghosts?”

Steve suddenly snorted. The moment she saw his shoulders sag even at the slightest, she couldn’t help but smile.

“[Y/N], this is serious.”

She chuckled, amused that Steve would even try to fight the urge to grin as he turned around to reprimand her. She only walked towards him and gently held his cheeks in her hands for a short while, letting his frustrations have a chance to melt away.

“I know, I know, I just wanted to let you relax,” she whispered, letting her voice soothe him.

Even if he tried, Steve couldn’t bear to be mad. He nodded, letting her words chase away his worries. For the past five years, [Y/N] had been his rock. She was the only thing that didn’t change no matter what. She stayed bright and cheerful, doing her best to keep everyone’s hope alive. She was the best thing that happened to him. That’s why he’d do everything he can to keep her out of danger.

“You don’t have to push y-” she stopped, freezing in her position, her whole body stiffening up.

“Why?” Steve asked, now more alert than ever. “What’s wrong?”

[Y/N] kept quiet, and instead of replying instantly, she took her hands off of him and snatched her gun from her holster. “We’re not alone.”

[Y/N] raised her weapon and started to stalk towards the arc of rocks. Steve’s hand tightened on his shield as he followed closely from her, knowing better than not to trust his partner at this moment. “ _Welcome_.”

Their suspicions were realized once a looming dark figure appeared before them, slowly floating down.

The couple raised their weapons, ready to respond to the threat above them. “Who are you?”

_“[Y/N]… Daughter of [Y/F/N]…”_

[Y/N] knees buckled, but the sharpness of her glare didn’t dare to falter as the being continued to descend towards them with no sign of stopping. “ _Steven…_ ”

“ _Son o_ … son- YOU!”

“YOU-” The man practically lost all the poise he had. He descended to the ground quicker and pointed his finger at Steve’s face as he hastily pulled down his hood. “How are you alive!?”

“Huh,” Steve muttered as he recognized that face. His defenses lowered as he raised a brow, sporting a far too amused smirk. The threatening and menacing form of the man in front of them, compared to their foreign alien surroundings, had only felt familiar to him.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

[Y/N]’s eyes almost rolled out of their sockets. “You know each other?”

Ignoring the almost deranged confusion plastered on red skull’s face, Steve stepped forward, now much more confident than he was before. “We came here for the stone. Not you.”

That might have struck something in the man as he had stepped back. More caught off guard than offended with his forehead deeply furrowed.

“Well, color me surprised, I knew this day would come,” Red Skull muttered, pulling back. The surprise and confusion in his face slowly turned to amusement. “The great and mighty had finally went against the very thing they vowed to be…” he monologued.

“The one who was so righteous to stop me had finally broken and sought to wield the power of the gods themse-”

“Hey, hey, ketchup face.”

The man grunted as his eyes fell upon the woman behind Steve who had the audacity to interrupt and snap her fingers at him. But [Y/N] could really care less about this drama. “If you don’t mind, we don’t really have time for a reunion. So if just happen to know where the stone is, please just cut the crap and show us where it is.”

The man thought for a second, most likely thinking about biting back but deciding against it. “Follow me.”

“I hope you don’t mind but I gotta ask first…” [Y/N] stopped him before he could take another step. “What is your role in this whole thing?”

The man chuckled, already having anticipated such a question. “Consider me a guide…”

“To you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone.”

“I guide people to the treasure I am not able to possess until the end of time…”

“But now,” he muttered ominously, sending shivers down [Y/N]’s spine. Just as Steve stepped in front of [Y/N], he even glanced back at the couple and smiled.

“…I may even have a treat of my own.”

[Y/N] cleared her throat, snapping her fingers again, dismissing his words. “Hey, less talking, more showing.”

Just as Red Skull turned, [Y/N] pulled Steve by the sleeve. The fact that the man had continued to smirk and walk felt too eerie for her. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Steve cleared his throat and reached for her hand, pushing all his doubts to the deepest corners of his mind. “Let’s just get this over with and then we’re done.”

[Y/N] could only nod, knowing there was no turning back now. They followed Red Skull as he directed them farther and farther away until they suddenly stopped as they reached the wide space, looking over an excellent view, possibly the highest peak in all of Vormir.

“Where?” [Y/N] anxiously vocalized right away, letting her eyes scan their surroundings, unnerved by the whole feel of the place. “Where do we get it?”

“I don’t see it anywhere.”

“What you seek lies in front of you…” the man spoke, continuing to walk towards the edge as the couple’s eyes followed him.

“…as does what you fear.”

He turned back, a sole finger pointing to the depths below while his eyes glared a hole at the two, a demented thought in mind. “The stone is down there…”

It was like the entire scenery got heavier. The silence around them raised to whole new scale. Steve’s hold on his shield unconsciously got tighter as the need to punch Red Skull’s face skyrocketed. There was just something about that smile that made Steve’s blood boil.

“Then we’ll go down there. Rappel down, easy, I’ll ready the equipment,” [Y/N] immediately jumped to, wanting this to be over with no matter how uncomfortable this all felt. She was about to turn back and prepare the ropes before she was pulled back by a steady hand.

“…it’s not that easy, is it?”

“Maybe for one of you.”

That philosophical vagueness wasn’t only getting old, but it was starting to be more annoying than spine-chilling. But the man’s stare was enough to make their skin crawl and their throats dry as what he meant slowly sank in.

“For the other…”

“In order to take the stone…” Red Skull started to walk towards the couple, unblinking eyes and all, making them inch back as he gotten closer. “You must lose that which you love.”

Their hearts stopped as Red skull grinned. “An everlasting exchange…”

“A soul, for a soul.”

* * *

“Thanos left here with the stone,” [Y/N] muttered, “without his daughter.”

She let her head fall to her hands, sitting on a rock as even her legs had lost all strength, beating herself up for not catching on earlier. “It can’t be a coincidence.”

“No.”

“No,” Steve repeated, going back and forth with a hard stare to the ground, denying to accept their situation.

Red skull grinned at the sidelines, watching his two visitors slowly lose themselves, the sickening amusement was all too obvious on his face. “These terms are not for negotiation, captain.”

“There must be another way,” Steve persisted as his head turned towards [Y/N] who had already lost all hope, desperately wishing for anything from her. But she had nothing. “I think you know the answer to that.”

“To gain what you desire, you must give one of yours.” Red Skull simply waved his hand again, gesturing towards the cliff as if he wasn’t asking for death. “One must go.”

“SHUT UP!”

Steve finally cracked, his loud voice boomed against the silence of the foreign lands. Strands of his hair stuck to his forehead as he panted, getting red in the face. But it only added gas to the flames. Red skull didn’t even flinch.

“Steve…” she sighed, running a hand down her face as Steve turned to face here. “[Y/N], we can’t do this! This isn’t- this is just-”

In response, [Y/N] stood up, walking right up to Steve, meeting his anxious eyes with her dead ones.

“If we don’t do this, billions will stay dead…”

Steve froze. [Y/N]’s words didn’t sound like hers anymore. “Why are you talking like that?”

“You know what we have to do,” [Y/N] softly uttered with a straight face, already having accepted it from her side.

“Whatever it takes…”

Steve blinked, unable to hear these words, especially not from her. This couldn’t happen.

“No… No! We’re not! We’ll think of another way! There has to be something else we can do! We can- we can ju-”

“ _What, Steve?_ ” [Y/N] snapped, finally bordering over the edge. “What _else_ do you think we can do?”

“Find a loophole? That we can escape by pushing something else you love down the hole?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out, only making [Y/N] laugh.

“Is _that_ what you _think_ we can do?”

“That _what_? We chuck that rusting compass in your pocket off the cliff and we'll _magically_ get what we want?” She continued to mock, seemingly with all her prior limits gone.

Steve’s silence was only met by the desperation she had masked with calmness. [Y/N] tried to keep her stature, she really did, but Steve could see her fingers trembling in her fist.

“No,” she answered herself firmly, swallowing the lump in her throat as she stood up to him. “This is a-tooth-for-a-tooth situation.”

“A leg for a leg,”

“The soul stone…” she sighed, almost bitterly, “for a soul.”

Steve could only stare back at her, speechless. He hated every word she said. But he couldn’t say what he wanted. The defeat in his eyes only mirrored hers.

“We don’t exchange lives [Y/N]. We- we can’t do this…”

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

“And we can’t go back empty-handed,” [Y/N] ended, reaching up to touch his cheek, offering a somewhat apologetic smile.

Steve let his head fall, brows pulled together as his forehead deeply furrowed, leaning in to her touch, taking this moment to take it all in. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right.

“No,” Steve finally murmured, “no, you’re right… You can’t. ”

Before it could fully sink in, Steve had forcefully pushed [Y/N] away, letting her body skid to the ground before sprinting towards the cliff.

The woman scrambled to her feet, willing her body to stand and look up, just enough to witness Steve jump.

Steve closed his eyes as he let gravity do the rest, the wind deafening his ears as his adrenaline pumped hard through his veins. He let himself go limp as he continued to plunge down to his doom, feeling no inch of regret. Steve was just about to close his eyes, until he felt a pull on his feet.

In a split second, a grappling hook had tied itself on to his ankle, rendering his fall to a stop. Before he could react, a blurred figure had already passed his eyes… and he barely caught her hand.

“I got you. I got you,” Steve panted, feeling the blood rush to his head.

[Y/N] looked up to him, eyes blurry as she looked up to him, unable to conceal her fear with her feet dangerously dangling on air. “St-…”

Steve gripped her hand tighter, clenching his teeth together as he tried his best to stay calm. “Don’t you dare let go. That’s an order.”

Her eyes flickered up to the sky before they fell back on him. “…it’s okay.”

“No. No. Just let me do this. I’ll- I’ll save us…” Steve rumbled as he promised, willing himself to focus on [Y/N], instead of the staggering abyss below them.

“It’s okay,” she said, no louder than a whisper, hiding the shakiness in her words. “Let go.”

“No… Never!” Steve shouted, letting himself sink into panic as his thoughts all left him. “Just hold on I’m gonna pull you up and- and we’ll-”

“Steve.”

His eyes stung at how calm her voice was. He could just feel her hand slipping from his and he was already shaking. _This wasn’t happening_. “No. No. Please don’t do this. Don’t. Please.”

“It’s okay. Save everyone. You have to do that, okay?” [Y/N] shakily asked, the unnerving calmness in her voice only made it all worse.

“No. No, [Y/N]. Please- let me just-” Steve continued to beg, clenching his eyes shut, unable to look at her without feeling helpless.

“I love you.”

Steve felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore. “No. No. Don’t. Please. I love you. I’m begging you, [Y/N]. Please.”

As he glanced back to her, there was no fear in her eyes, only acceptance. With one last smile, [Y/N] swung her other hand on top of Steve’s fist, breaking his hold. It all happened too fast.

“[Y/N]!!!”

* * *

“Hey, Rogers!”

Steve opened his eyes, almost painfully being ripped away from his thoughts by the heavy hand on his shoulder, only to face the worried expression of his friend.

“You okay, Cap?”

“Yeah,” Steve answered instinctively, nodding away as he let off a little smile. “Just getting into the mission I guess.”

Tony analyzed the blond’s expression, biting the tip of his tongue to prevent mentioning something he’d regret. He’s gotten better at that these past couple of years.

“Everything’s been set up. All you have to do is to return back the stones at where it’s supposed to be. Remember the extra suit and particles are in those pockets if you need them,” he explained one more time, looking up to a very focused Steve before flicking his forehead.

“When you get back, I expect you to have one more member, you understand?” Stark raised his eyebrows and pointed a finger on his face, staring up to his friend who couldn’t look more grateful despite what Tony just did.

“That’s no question.”

With that, Steve glanced back and met the eyes of his friends who had donned their time suits one last time. Thor Nat, Clint and Bruce who was also waiting by the control waited patiently on stand by. “Let’s go.”

With the additional set of hands, they had all completed their tasks rather fast. Although, it didn’t matter as much since they all arrived at Vormir at the same time. Clint swears he’s never going to get used to this whole time travel thing.

“Back so soon?”

“I must admit, I am appreciative of the company.” Red skull turned around to see the Steve with three new faces behind him.

“He’s disgusting,” Natasha muttered under her breath, not knowing what she expected as Thor cleared his threat next to her. “True that.”

“We came here to bargain.” Steve went straight to the point, staring down Red Skull with a fire that rivaled the one he showed at their first meeting, almost making the man’s skin crawl.

The man in the hood blinked back, not expecting those words. In all honesty, he could laugh at how serious that tone is. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“What is it now?” He asked, amused and in the mood for teasing the blond. “Don’t you already have what you came for?”

“I must say, there is nothing left here for you to take.”

“[Y/N],” Steve called out, letting his voice echo against the cold rocks of Vormir with only pride in his tone. “The woman… sacrificed.”

“We want her back.”

Red skull could only stare back in surprise. He had lost count how many times he had done so in only a short span of time. But those words were simply the most outrageous ones ever uttered to him. “Out of question.”

“What?! No!” Steve shouted, this time caught out of guard. “There must be something you could do!”

“I’m just a messenger,” Red skull retorted unapologetically, even explicitly enjoying it. “One that had already finished their part. There’s nothing I could do to help y-”

“Wait!”

His loud voice pierced through the quiet, not wasting a single second, alerting his friends more than anything with his tone. Steve may seem calm but he was no less of a desperate man. At this point, he had nothing to lose.

Steve thought of it for a while, willing his brain not to fail him. He was unsure of his memories himself, but it was all he got.

“You introduced an exchange when we first can here. What if we give you something else instead? Is that possible?”

“Ah yes, the exchange,” Red Skull hummed, slowly understanding where the captain was going. “A soul for a soul…”

“We’re willing to do anything.”

Natasha’s breathing hitched as Thor’s eyes widened, while it simply confused Clint. They all knew better. That was not in their plan. They never talked about that. Steve was going off the rails.

“If you’re adamant, then I should impart what I know,” Red skull sighed as he walked closer towards the edge of the cliff, feigning pity.

“Should you want her back…”

He turned with a sly yet triumphant smirk plastered on his lips. “…another should take her place.”

“What?” Natasha stepped forward, unable to believe what she heard as all color and hope visibly disappeared from Clint’s face. “Hey, that’s just-”

“That’s it?”

Without even blinking, Steve took another step forward. “Does it still stand?”

They didn’t even have to look at Red Skull to know he was smiling. “But of course.”

“Steve.” Natasha pulled him by the arm, making him face her, doing everything she can to get those thoughts out of his head before they could stick. “Maybe we should talk about this again.”

“Yeah, this doesn’t sound as clean cut,” Clint backed up with Thor worriedly nodding his head as the three huddled around Steve.

“Steve. Look,” Nat ordered with a bitter taste in her mouth, knowing she had to play the bad guy again in this story.

“This was nice and all, thinking we had a chance to get her back. Believe me, we want her back as much as you do-”

“We still can.”

“But think about her, Rogers,” Nat bit back, not holding her tongue anymore, knowing full well of what Steve was willing to do. “For _once_ , consider her.”

“If we do get her back, what do you think she’ll feel when she finds out? What do you think she’ll sa-”

“What about me?”

“Can’t I decide?” Steve snapped back, his tone unwavering, jaw clenched as he coldly stared back at the woman.

“Can’t I think about what I feel? Just this once?”

Natasha paused, her own emotions betraying her as she watched Steve. He wasn’t even fazed of the words he was saying, his cold stature only crumbling the moment her name slipped out of his mouth. “If I can’t do this for [Y/N], then…”

“Steve…” Clint sighed, he could almost feel Steve’s pain. Everyone knew how important she was for him. But they didn’t expect it to come to this.

They were all so caught up with Steve’s outrageous plea. It was all too heartbreaking to hear from their friend, so much that they didn’t even notice they were missing a member. “Hey, you!”

“Ugly red cheeto face!” Thor called out, striding towards the hooded figure as if nothing was holding him back.

“What is this language you’re speaking o-”

“We’ll just give you the soul gem, then you just give her back, how about that?” Thor bargained, raising the suitcase that was now somehow in his possession.

“Can’t that work? Don’t you want this back? Here it is. Take it.” Thor merely opened the case, taking the sole glistening object left in it and throwing the container to the side.

Red Skull’s eyes darted from the stone that was now carelessly sitting atop the Asgardian’s hand and then back at deranged man, who was still enthusiastically offering it up. All he could do was to stare confusedly at the Norse god.

“Don’t you want this? Here. Take it,” Thor insisted, striding closer towards the man, nonchalantly offering the soul stone as if it was some mere rock.

Red skull swallowed, his forehead deeply furrowed as he titled his head in complete confusion. “That’s… that’s not how it works…”

Something snapped in Thor as his face fell with his heart skipping a few beats. “What do you mean that’s not how it works!?”

“It means it doesn’t work that way!” Red skull retaliated, his composure now reduced to having scream fights with the obviously distressed god of thunder.

Natasha could only sigh. Too emotionally tired to deal with another tantrum, she pinched the bridge of her before nodding off to Clint to handle it while she handles Steve. “Clint, can you just-”

Clint cupped his hands around his mouth as he tried to call out over Thor’s booming voice. “Hey! Big guy, that’s-”

“Here it is! So take it back!” Thor came closer, almost pushing it to Red skull’s hand who stepped back, appalled by the god standing in front of him. “No!”

“What do you mean no?!” Thor shouted again, sparks of blue flickering in the corner of his eyes.

“No. I will not take it back,” Red Skull repeated, incredibly scandalized to be having this conversation.

“But that’s stupid! You said exchange, now we want it back! Just take it!” Thor insisted, borderline whining st this point, reeking of desperation. The ticket to getting [Y/N] back was right here in his hand. Why couldn’t this man just cooperate?

“If you will not listen, then I can do nothing to help you,” Red skull firmly pronounced, having no intention of continuing this kind of nonsense talk. “You may leave now.”

He glanced back to the others, nodding over Thor as if he was some problem child. “Drag him out of here.”

To everyone’s surprise, before Clint can come up and collect him, blue lightning streaks enveloped Thor’s body. It caused them all to step back. Thunder formed in the skies above them as Thor’s chest puffed up like that of a mad bluebird. His fist clenched on the stone as an orange mist mixed in with the rage of the God of Thunder until it all just exploded.

“YOU GIVE US BACK OUR FRIEND!”

Clint’s eyes widened to saucers as Nat and Steve momentarily forgot what they were arguing when they realized what exactly Thor was about to do.

“THOR NO!”

But it was too late; the man had already swung his fist, barely missing Red Skull’s head, sending the precious stone flying down the abyss.

Just as they all realized what just happened, the atmosphere immediately calmed as all the thunder and rumbling disappeared. All that was left was a pale Thor. He mumbled under his breath, “oh my god.”

There was complete silence, even the blowing wind from before had dissipated. They were all too shocked to move. All except for Red skull who seemed more appalled.

“Did- Did you just… throw th-”

Completely ignoring Red skull, they merely pushed the man to the side, rushing towards the cliff. Peering over the edge, through all the smoke and fog slowly accumulating, no matter how much they squinted, there was nothing there anymore.

“Thor, what did you do?!” Clint shouted to a very apologetic Thor who seemed to be in the verge of tears. “I don’t know! I panicked!”

“Well, what are we going to do now?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

Steve gritted his teeth. He wanted to be angry, but he felt horrible instead. He stepped back, recollecting himself. That maybe would’ve been his last chance of bringing her back, now he had no cards left. It was hopeless.

“Wait.”

Steve turned just as Natasha pointed towards the sky, a large ring of purple clouds were forming. Lighting and thunder shortly followed as it gotten wider and wider.

Another grumble tore through their ears as a blinding bright light erupted, causing them all to cover their eyes before looking back just in time to see something be emitted from the sky.

“Steve, something is…”

Without even thinking, Steve had ran full speed towards the end of the cliff and jumped off the edge, running after the falling mass.

Despite their shock, they all quickly followed him towards the edge. Clint had already pulled out an hook arrow and shot it down, closing down on his target who was still freely falling below.

As it reached closer, it released wires that coiled up around its target, locking the other end of the wire to the bow. “Pull us up!”

Clint grunted as he anchored himself, his feet still skidding against the slippery ground. Natasha quickly held on to the wire as well, twisting it around her hands for a better grip, gritting her teeth together as she pulled her weight.

Even with his burning palms and slowly skidding footing, Clint turned his head, just to see Thor behind him and Natasha, worriedly choosing which one to hold onto.

Clint angrily widened his eyes at the god, doing the most without shouting. Without much thought, Thor just grabbed the both of them, pulling with all his might, lifting their feet from the ground as he took on all the weight, slowly stepping backwards. It wasn’t long until an arm appeared from the edge.

They rushed over to help Steve up, who only had one hand free. They let him catch his breath, giving him some space as they glanced down, slowly inching towards what was curled up in Steve’s hold.

Steve slowly opened up his arms, keeping them close to support the shaking form in his embrace to reveal a familiar face. _[Y/N]._

“It’s really you…” Steve whispered as his hands came up to gently hold her panic-stricken face, finally staring up to her eyes. “You’re okay.”

“Steve-” [Y/N] practically pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his neck with a vice grip. Steve melted onto her embrace, letting himself get lost in her.

Just as she opened her eyes, her hold on Steve faltered when she saw the familiar faces on her friends in front of her.

“Guys, oh god-” her words were immediately muffled by the sudden amount of arms circling around her.

[Y/N] laughed, too ecstatic to complain. She patted their backs, needing some space to breathe with so many nagging thoughts pestering her already muddled brain.

“W- wait wait,” she mumbled, blinking profusely. She glanced all around, trying to make sense of what just happened. She had no idea what was going on but something felt wrong. As far as she could remember, she was supposed to be dead. “Why- what is- what just-”

She let out a shaky breath while pushing down the need to start madly laughing, unable to believe the miracle in front of her. “What did you guys do?”

To that they all shared a short glance, this time with smiles on their faces. Steve breathed out a small laugh.

“I think we found the loophole.”


End file.
